When is a Shark Bite a Healthy Thing?

The San Jose Sharks are a team of tough, big, scrappy and talented hockey players…but they are also deeply committed to their community. No wonder, then, that their entire organization and Foundation are too. Here's a picture of them visiting Valley Medical Center a while back...and our work together continued...

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a new partnership between the Sharks Foundation and the VMC Foundation: The San Jose Sharks Pediatric Clinic at VHC Tully!

The clinic is already there at Valley Health Center Tully in San Jose, and serves more than 6,000 children each month! And while it’s long on quality care for kids, it’s short on décor and inspiration.

Enter the Sharks, who are investing up to $100,000 to “re-imagine” the Clinic. We’ll have Sharks images of players, team colors throughout and of course “Sharkie”, the team mascot everywhere. More than just looking good, the clinic will be full of healthy tips for kids and parents: Take a BITE out of your veggies, drink water not soda, get your exercise and immunizations…all positive messages to match the positive look and feel.

Parents will love it too, and of course this “Legacy Project” will help the Sharks show off their involvement in our community. They already do a lot, but this is a very big deal. Huge thanks to Jeff Cafuir, the Sharks Foundation Manager, for spearheading the project along with our team here at the VMC Foundation and throughout the Sharks organization.

So yes, the Sharks are caring, humble, community-minded idealists…unless of course you meet them on the ice. Wearing an Anaheim Ducks uniform.

Introducing Buck for a Bike!

I'm proud to help announce the newest, coolest campaign by Turning Wheels, the VMC Foundation program that provides brand-new bikes to underprivileged kids. The benefits are so many: The sense of independence and responsibility, the freedom of movement, and the health aspects of riding a bike vs. sitting inside. What's not to love?

Now, it's even easier with Buck for a Bike! The idea is so simple: If everyone in Santa Clara County gave just a dollar, we could buy a bike for pretty much any child that needs one. And if you gave $10, or maybe $100...now we're talking program expansion, bike build clinics - the sky is the limit.

Visit www.buckforabike.org to see some really fun videos, and make your own! The website also makes it easy to share with friends, and to donate what you can.

Oh yeah...when I say I'm proud to HELP announce, that's because local media beat me to it. Take a look here, and support Buck for a Bike!

The Great Turning Wheels Bike Build!

Saturday saw the 6th Annual "Wow, I can't believe how BIG this is" event at the San Jose Convention Center...the Turning Wheels Bike Build!

You, dear avid reader of this blog, know how amazing Turning Wheels is...from the money they raise through the Death Ride, to the dedicated volunteers who make it all happen - and it all comes together in mid-December where thousands of bikes are built for underprivileged kids who might not otherwise get anything for the holidays...let alone a new bike.

Watch the Turning Wheels website for the soon-to-come complete run-down on this year's build (2400 bikes, the first-ever Great Trike Race, tons of money raised on the spot, etc. etc. etc.) But I wanted to tell you of this year's best innovation while honoring Sue Runsvold.

Yes - Sue is the Founder and Fearless Leader of Turning Wheels, who first came to me five years ago in a conversation that led to their organization joining the VMC Foundation. Since then, she's led a growing army of inspiring idealists who all have the same question on Bike Build Day: "Where's Sue? Anybody seen Sue?"

She's in constant demand, what with Channel 2 needing her for a live interview, or City Team needing a signature on something, or a donor presenting a Giant Cardboard Check...and if you've never been in the SJ Convention Center's South Hall, just imagine a cigar shaped circus tent the size of a city block.

So at any given time on Bike Build Day, there are a dozen people running around trying to find Sue Runsvold. And walkie-talkies don't work, because it's too loud and chaotic. Also, there are balloons and people and boxes and bikes everywhere. But this year, someone (I think it was Dave) got really smart. The ONLY yellow balloon in the whole place was tied to Sue's belt, on a 20-foot string!

To find Sue, just look up, and as far away as she could be, you could still see the bouncing yellow balloon. Parents, is this a great idea to keep tabs on your toddlers during the holiday shopping crunch or WHAT?

Thanks to EVERYONE, especially the Board of Turning Wheels, who never fail to achieve the impossible. Thanks to the Celeb's who competed in the Great Trike Race, except for those who beat me. Okay, everybody beat me...but that big shark in the photo up above? He totally cheated - riding a TWO-wheeler. I'm calling the league.

YES on A this November...for the health of our kids!

I've been spending a great deal of my spare time (!!!) supporting the YES on A campaign, and hope you'll join me making sure we protect children's health in Santa Clara County.

But don't take my word for it - here's the most recent in a long string of VIP and media endorsements...from the local paper in "my town", The Los Gatos Weekly:

Editorial: Measure A gets universal support for Healthy Kids

It's safe to say that none among looks forward to any additional tax burden, no matter how small it might be. But it's also pretty safe to say that few among us want to see children in our community going without health care.

That's why Measure A on the Nov. 2 ballot is getting such universal support. The proposed $29 per year parcel tax will generate $13-14 million per year for 10 years to fund the "Healthy Kids" program in Santa Clara County.

According to supporters, "Measure A will fully fund the Healthy Kids program and ensure that all eligible county children have access to health insurance, including preventative health care services and early detection and treatment for such terrible illnesses as asthma or diabetes."

Whether we like it or not, county taxpayers are going to pay to provide health care for the more than 15,000 uninsured children in Santa Clara County, whether through emergency room services or through this plan for preventative care.

Families should not have to wait until their children are sick, thereby requiring emergency room services to deal with their illnesses. The "Healthy Kids" program would provide for immunizations and regular check-ups to keep children healthy and in school, and to help to prevent childhood obesity.

It's more cost effective to keep children healthy than to deal with their health issues after the fact, and certainly better for the children and their families. It's for that reason that Measure A has garnered the support of the League of Women Voters, The Health Trust, the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the San Jose Mercury News and many more organizations.

Area hospitals are certainly in favor of the measure. El Camino Hospital, Kaiser and Valley Medical Center, along with the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, are all supporting Measure A.

Two important points brought out by supporters of the measure are that "children enrolled in Healthy Kids reported a 50 percent decline in missed school days due to illness" and, "Once enrolled in Healthy Kids, children with a usual source of care almost doubled and children with unmet medical need dropped by more than half." Simply put, children in the program were healthier.

The County Board of Supervisors has placed Measure A on the November ballot, and it's a coalition of health, business, community and labor leaders who are joining together in universal support of the plan. The program, first launched in 2001 as the Children's Health Care Initiative, needs this funding to continue.

Voters need to consider what supporters of the county parcel tax emphasize: "Without Measure A, thousands of children in Santa Clara County will lose health coverage."

It seems like $29 per year is a small price to pay to make sure that doesn't happen.

Kids' health is key to their education...

...but don't take MY word for it!

Hey, let's be honest...you very likely already know that without access to a doctor and basic health care, children will suffer in the classroom. We've got data to prove it.

We also have yesterday's letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury News, penned by my pal and brilliant CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Here's what he wrote:

Measure A would help kids' learning
source: Mercury News

As president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, I am proud to support Santa Clara County's Measure A -- Children's Health Protection Act -- on Nov. 2. After several years working on education initiatives that promote student achievement, college and career goals and in general providing children and families a better life, I feel it is important to continue supporting quality of life needs for these families.

Families who have benefitted from the current program that provides medical, dental and vision care call it a lifesaver. It has kept children healthy and in school, with the goal of academic success and some day college and a bright future.

Children enrolled in Healthy Kids report a 50 percent decline in school absence because of illness, which is great news for all students. Children's Health Initiative school outreach has helped raise $6 million to $7 million for local school districts annually. Thus Measure A is not only a necessary act to improve the quality of health for our future Silicon Valley professionals, but it is also a program that will help further other organizations' missions, including the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

Muhammed Chaudhry

President and CEO Silicon Valley Education Foundation

Measure A: A MOST important vote...

Ten years ago, Santa Clara County became the first county in the nation to provide health coverage for all children.

Today, that coverage is about to end...but we can save it by voting YES on Measure A this November.

From today's Mercury News comes a very logical editorial, which in part says this:

There's a reason Measure A has no major campaign opposition and is supported by Silicon Valley industry. Business leaders and health experts alike understand that the current method of providing medical care for indigent and uninsured children costs them, as taxpayers, dearly. A hidden tax comes due when poor families have no choice but to take sick kids to hospital emergency rooms. That's by far the most expensive care, and taxpayers end up paying the bill.

To learn more about this all-important issue, which truly does affect us all, visit http://www.avoteforkids.infoand please, PLEASE share this with others...we have to get the word out now about Measure A!

Why I oppose toys in fast food (and why you should)

When I directed City Year in San Jose, we called this a "ripple", as in, the waves that radiate out from a rock dropped in a pond that get bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

The alert reader will remember my wacky, mixed-up support for Ken Yeager's new law passed on April 25. Ken is the President of the Board of Supervisors for Santa Clara County, where it is now illegal to sell fast food meals with toys inside. This made national news, you'll recall.

Fast forward to today.

I'm as supportive of the law as I was when it passed, but to offer equal time, here is an opposing viewpoint that mirrors the opinion of many in our community and others. I support the ban, which actually affects very few fast food restaurants in the county (and NO McDonalds), and I'll share my opinion by paraphrasing what I said publicly when the law was being debated:

"President Yeager, members of the board, when I first heard about this proposed ordinance I thought 'come on...surely local government could better spend its time on the budget, or on public safety.' Public safety? Well, that got me thinking.

"And I remembered that as a 17-year-old freshman at San Jose State University, in 1985, it was common practice for tobacco companies to give away their products free in front of the student union. By the time I graduated, in 1989, they weren't there anymore. Clearly, some policy decision had been made, changing the behavior.

"But policy can change more than behavior; it can change culture and attitude. If those same tobacco companies showed up tomorrow and started giving out 'free samples', I bet the community would be outraged, just as you would be if someone walked into these chambers with a lit cigarette. People would go nuts, yet thirty years ago it was commonplace.

"That's what's at stake here. Kids want the toy, they bug mom and dad for the fast food, and our childhood obesity epidemic is further fuelled. This really is a public health issue, and a seemingly small policy change can - and I think will - ultimately change culture and attitude...and we'll look back on the time when fast food companies lured kids with toys to their meals loaded with sugar, salt and fat, and wonder what we were thinking."

The law passed that morning, national media went ballistic...and here's the punchline (which you already know if you clicked the link above): San Francisco City and County is now proposing a similar ordinance!

So that's the "ripple". I hope it spreads, and believe it will. I welcome all thoughtful responses, as always.

"Pedaling what they preach"...

Leah Toeniskoetter is not just a board member of the VMC Foundation, and not just the most recent Chair Emeritus...she's also a die-hard cyclist.

How die-hard? She rides her tires off every year in one of the world's most treacherous bike races: The Death Ride.

Leah does this to raise much-needed money for the VMC Foundation's "Turning Wheels for Kids" program, which provides new bikes to children in low-income families. This is great for their health, their self-esteem and their sense of independence.

Leah's energy is catching: She now has a huge team of "Death Riders", and if you want to hear more from this young dynamic leader on why she does it, she just appeared on Carl Guardino's CEO Show on KLIV Radio, along with Sunpower CEO Tom Werner. Check it out here, and if you would, join me in supporting Leah's efforts!

Toby Gerhart visits Matt Blea at VMC - what a winning team!

You likely remember reading about Matt Blea, the high school student injured on the football field on Thanksgiving. Well today Toby Gerhart, Stanford University football star and Heisman Trophy runner-up, came to visit while Matt is back at Valley Medical Center for rehab!

Matt, just weeks after life-saving surgery, started his day jogging in the grass outside the Rehab Unit where his progress has been amazing. Matt had no idea that Toby, one of the players he especially looks up to, was planning to visit him. Toby had heard about the high-schooler's injury from his coach, and decided to pay Matt a visit.

Coming directly to Valley Medical Center from The Stanford team's practice for their New Years Eve Sun Bowl game against Oklahoma , Toby met Matt in the day room of Valley Medical Center's Brain Injury Rehabilitation unit.

Toby was accompanied by Stanford football assistant coach, Tom Steiner, and as family, staff and other patients looked on, Matt accepted gifts of a Stanford jersey and a signed football.

Matt told Toby that he was a huge fan, and shared that his goal was to become a high school coach one day. Toby said how impressed he was with Matt's progress, and congratulated Matt on his planned discharge from VMC on Christmas Eve - the perfect present!

Our best Bike Build EVER. Again!

On Saturday, something happened so amazing that you pretty much have to see it to believe it...which you can do Turning Wheels for Kids.

My favorite coverage so far is by Tonic.com, and they've made the 2300 bikes and 600 volunteers their big inspiring story of the week. Read it here, and seriously now, share this with others. People deserve to know that the biggest all-volunteer "elf" event for the holidays involved this astounding program of the VMC Foundation.

Huge congratulations to Sue Runsvold, R.N., and her team of dedicated "Wheeler Dealers" whose contribution to holiday joy in Silicon Valley is unparallelled.

Last year's Bike Build was so big, I wondered if they could do it again. Serves me right for wondering...this was the biggest and best ever. Hooray!

The Sharks visit VMC's young patients...check out these photos

VMC Foundation sports reporter Chris Wilder, here…the question I’m most often asked is “So the San Jose Sharks can win big on the road and have a great penalty kill, but how are they with children?”

Yesterday we found out: They RULE! Spending the afternoon with some of our young patients at Valley Medical Center was the following star lineup:

Joe Pavelski
Dan Boyle
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jody Shelley
Kent Huskins

Supported by their wives and girlfriends who helped raise $17,000 for our pediatrics department, these hockey heroes could not have been more terrific. On their own time, they spent time with kids who, despite the excellent quality of their care, are not stoked to be in a hospital. S.J. Sharkie (the team mascot) was of course also on hand…it never fails to amaze me that kids love Sharkie, even though he’s a 7-foot carnivorous fish with big teeth.

Seriously, this was a magic day at VMC…check the photos here, and help us root our team on to the Stanley Cup this year – these guys, and their wives and girlfriends, are truly class acts…like the staff at VMC. A huge thanks also to the staff of the Sharks, especially the team at the Sharks Foundation. Working together, we’re making cool things happen.

Reach Out and Read (with your Congressman)

The alert reader of the San Jose Mercury News may have seen the photo of Congressman Mike Honda reading to kids at Valley Health Center, East Valley, this week.

If not - even if so - here's the low-down: Our cool representitive wanted to see one of the VMC Foundation's best programs. So, we took him to our clinic on McKee Road where he met our doctors and nurses and staff who run the show...and run Reach Out and Read (click here to learn about ROR...it's the fourth program listed)

This fusion of health care and literacy is so powerful, and watching Mike Honda read to kids in fluent Spanish was a blast...in the photo above, he and David were reading about a cow who ate too many pears. Sounds like more fun than being shouted at by foes of your health care reform ideas.

It was also amazing to see how many people knew and liked Congressman Honda, everywhere he went. People would just run up to hug him or shake his hand. Makes me wonder how many other legislators are so well-loved in their districts. Thanks, Mike! Oh - here are more pictures too.

I'm an uncle again!

Wonderful news: My sister-in-Law gave birth to Sophie and Olivia this week, so I'm an uncle twice more!

My extended family's new twins reminds me of a great event you should attend the day after our VMC Foundation gala - which the alert reader knows is September 12.

So, hosted by the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Pregnancies, their "Mothers' Tea for Healthy Babies" takes place 9/13 at the St. Elizabeth Day Home in San Jose. Details are on their website, where you can buy tickets, but consider WHY you should attend:

- When a pregnant woman smokes, drinks or uses drugs, so does her baby (this you likely know)

- This NUMBER ONE cause of mental retardation is 100% preventable (again, you knew)

- Drug and alcohol use during pregancy has NOT declined in recent years (this really shocks me...maybe you too?)

Obviously, they have a lot of education to do, and your attending this event will help them do it. Thanks so much, and welcome Sophie and Olivia.

129 miles and 15 BIG hearts!

In another example of "this is so amazing I'm nearly speechless", I give you this year's Turning Wheels for Kids' DEATH RIDE team!

The team is led by VMC Foundation's Board Chair, Leah Toeniskoetter...she rode the Death Ride three years ago, and has grown the team since then. This year, the group you see will embark on one of the hardest bike rides in the nation: 129 miles, 15,000 feet of elevation change - all in one day. It's not called The Death Ride lightly - Team TWFK is seriously risking a lot by attempting to finish this race.

Why on earth would they do this, other than "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger?" Well, turns out they're all raising money for one of the VMC Foundation's most inspiring program, consider a gift to support the team's amazing ride, which they'll be undertaking this Saturday!

GO Leah, Go Dan, Go John...GO TEAM TWFK!!!

Protect children's health in Califirornia!

In my spare time (ha!) I serve on the board of directors for the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, which helps fund the "Healthy Kids" program for our county. You may know that Santa Clara County was the FIRST in the nation to ensure health coverage for all kids.

That's all at risk now.

We knew this fight was coming with our state's budget mess, and fortunately we have an army of fighters. One is Dr. Heidi Roman, a pediatrician at Valley Medical Center. Her article in today's Mercury News says it so well...in part:

I understand that California legislators face an exceptionally complex and difficult task in balancing the budget. Yet elimination of Healthy Families is not only morally reprehensible, it is fiscally irresponsible. The state currently receives 2-to-1 matching funds from the federal government to administer Healthy Families. This money would be lost. In addition, we know that lack of health insurance leads to poorer health and increased future reliance on the state in the long term.

Read the full article here, and let's hope the Governor does the same.

The First Five Years begin with the First Five Days...

…and sometimes, the first five hours. Or minutes.

Today we celebrated a major partnership at the VMC Foundation, and I just had to share it with you. First 5 Santa Clara County has made a multi-year, multimillion dollar commitment to us for support of our tiniest, most fragile patients: The babies in VMC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The benefit of this life-saving equipment and program investment can seriously not be measured fully in dollars or statistics. Let’s instead measure it in families:

The photos above are Greg, Fan and Dana…Dana is about to start Kindergarten, but spent a very tough time in our NICU when she was born tiny and prematurely. When Dana came into the world, she was the size and weight of a stick of butter. Think of that. They thought she might not survive, but today…well, you can see her: A happy, healthy girl ready for school!

It’s the major leaps in technology (and the amazing staff of our NICU) that lead to such great outcomes for Dana and so many others, and First 5’s investment will help ensure we meet our growing tech needs. “What happens to these babies in the first few minutes of life,” explained Nurse Manager Kim Corvin at today’s press conference, “will impact the rest of their lives…and that impacts our whole society.”

Kim is right – and First 5 cannot be thanked enough for this investment in our future. Visit them to learn about the other great things they do around Silicon Valley: http://www.first5kids.org/

A Positive Dental Outlook - Fluoride NOW!

So the situation is that San Jose is the largest city in the nation without fluoride in the water. The situation is also that 1/3 of San Jose’s kindergarteners has untreated tooth decay. How do you think it feels trying to go to school and learn – for the first time – with a toothache?

I cannot relate. I’m 41 years old had have never had a cavity. My dentist, Dr. Sera, says I have the most perfect teeth she’s ever seen. She’s not met my brother, who has also never had a filling. Before you think we’re genetic freaks, I’ll tell you our parents’ mouths are the dental equivalent to the opening battle scene in Saving Private Ryan.

The difference, of course, is fluoride; my parents didn’t have it and my brother and I did. Now, County Supervisor Liz Kniss is joining The Health Trust in fighting to fluoridate San Jose’s water. Why the need for a fight? Because there are still loonies afoot who think that “letting the Government put things in the water supply” leads to mind control or something. No, that’s what reality TV is for.

Seriously for a second – scientists and dentists and public health officers don’t debate this – fluoride is fantastic…yet opposition continues. Why, just this week in the Mercury News, responding to their editorial on fluoride, one guy quoted a British physician: "No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: 'Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay.”

WRONG! Sorry dude, but doctors thankfully do this all the time. They prescribe Vitamin B12 for vegans, iron for women and folic acid for women of childbearing years. Breast milk for infants. They push vitamin C, and leafy greens, and a good balance of protein and carbs. They do this for everyone, because it’s good for pretty much everyone.

Sorry for the rant, but this whole thing is just silly. And tragic. I love San Jose, but I’m thankful I was raised a few miles to the north and have great teeth to show for it. All kids deserve that, and the cost to fluoridate SJ’s water would be more than offset by keeping kids in school, ready to learn, without the pain of a bad tooth.

Do you disagree? Feel free to let me know. If you want to help, please consider a gift this month to the VMC Foundation...and I’ll make you a deal: Join us, and we’ll help fight the cavity creeps together.

You're gonna need a good lawyer...

Your doctor isn’t always the best person to solve your medical problem. Sometimes, instead, it’s a lawyer!

Consider for instance the single mom with two boys, frustrated by their weekly asthma attacks and visits to VMC. They know darned well that it’s mold in their apartment walls that’s causing the asthma, yet her landlord wont’ do anything about it…even after their VMC pediatrician wrote a letter and left voice messages. Can you imagine how that feels?

Now, imagine that landlord getting a letter not from a doctor, but from an attorney, representing the two boys! This has proven time and again to get results, and so here’s what we’re launching at VMC: Legal Advocates for Children and Youth (LACY) has teamed up with the VMC Foundation and First 5, along with some prominent families in Silicon Valley, to start a “Medical Legal Partnership Clinic.”

Beginning today, an attorney will be available on-site at VMC’s pediatric clinic to help families solve problems as only lawyers can. Issues of custody, tenant;s rights, teen motherhood and more will be addressed immediately, and these issues so often have medical implications.

Medical Legal Partnerships have been around for a while, but ours is the first in the nation at a “county/public” medical center…which is ironic, since many of VMC’s patients deal with these kinds of issues all the time…and for too many, they often feel under-represented; that nobody has their back. Well, not anymore – not with this new initiative.

Huge thanks are in order, from Jolene at First 5, to VMC’s LeeAnna Botkin, M.D., to Jennifer Kelleher at LACY, and Steve Harris, M.D., the chair of VMC’s Pediatrics…and let’s not forget Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors who continue approving innovative programs like this one.

The results of our Medical Legal Partnership Clinic won't be known for a while, but they have a long history of success. We're pretty sure that, in the case I opened with, that landlord will make some repairs, and the boys' asthma will subside. That means better health for them, fewer missed days at school, and fewer visits to the doctor. Good for the kids, the family, VMC, and our whole community.

Now - who needs a good lawyer?

A new year, and new hope for one family...

I received a very difficult phone call three months ago. I'll never forget it.

Now, before I tell you how this story ends, I invite you to read the following letter I received just a week ago...

Dear Chris:

Back in September of this year you received a call from a mutual friend, Dave Henderson. I think Dave explained that our 16 year old son, Christian Bauerle, sustained a serious injury in a football game and was in intensive care up at Stanford.

Christian sustained an injury to his brain stem artery which caused a blood clot and stroke. The doctors at Stanford performed emergency surgery on him to clear the clot.

We were told that if he survives they did not know to what extent he would regain his functions. At the time I spoke with Dave the doctors at Stanford thought that Christian’s best chance at recovery would be immediate aggressive physical therapy. I spoke with Dave on Wednesday night September 10th and by Thursday afternoon a VMC representative met with Christian and us. By Friday September 12th around noon Christian was admitted into VMC.

Christian was at VMC for eight weeks. When he arrived all he could do was move his eyes and his left leg some. By the end of the eight weeks he was lifting weights, walking, climbing stairs, eating and talking. My wife Karen and I, along with Christian and his brothers and sister, are very grateful for everything you did to get Christian into VMC. We also want to give our thanks to Dr. Duong, Dr. Lin, Amy, Hubert, Kei, Carlo and the rest of the staff in the head injury section of the hospital.

Enclosed is a check in the amount of $1,000 for the VMC Foundation to be used for whatever the hospital committee deems necessary to continue VMC’s fine health programs.

Christian continues to recover now at home, is attending school, and plans to make the high school basketball team next year. We thank you and the VMC staff again for all that you have done for Christian and our family.

Sincerely,

Randy Bauerle

So there's the letter. Now you see why I'll never forget it. Though he has a long road ahead, VMC's Rehab Team (with the support of a great family and determined young man) have once again defied the odds.

I promised to tell you how the story ends. Well, in fact, it hasn't yet. You see, I spoke to Randy (Christian's Dad) at length yesterday and they want very much to be involved. If you come to VMC Foundation's events this year, chances are you'll meet them. If you visit VMC's Rehab Center this year, Christian may be there providing peer support or volunteering.

And if you attend the right High School basketball game this fall, watch for him. He'll be the guy with the most positve attitude on the court...and probably the most points on the board.

2,000 bikes = ho ho ho!

Allow me to demolish any remaining cynicism you have about the holidays:

Saturday was an incredible day, as hundreds of Silicon Valley volunteers came together to build thousands of bikes for children who might otherwise have nothing – and that’s just the beginning…

Turning Wheels for Kids is a grass-roots group of caring people that became a program of the VMC Foundation a couple years ago. Today’s annual Bike Build began early in the morning at the San Jose Convention Center, when FOUR 18-WHEELERS full of unassembled bikes were unloaded by teams of builders. Volunteers from Juniper, Yahoo, Google, Fox Racing, local bike clubs and just regular folk worked their butts off so that kids could have something new, empowering and healthy for the holidays.

At one point, Sue Runsvold was left speechless…hard to do, if you know Sue! She’s the executive director for TWFK and was presented a check for $20,000 by local construction heroes DPR, Inc. Sue’s a nurse manager as well, so you’d think she was used to surprises. Other firms and groups gave too – thousands more – and the money was nothing compared to the inspiration of seeing the kids get their new shiny bikes.

Brandi Chastain, “Sharkie”, and elected officials joined in as Christmas came early for so many needy families. I could write about it all day and not do it justice…to get a better idea of what this event feels like, check out http://www.turningwheels.org/ to see all they offer. Am I proud to be a part of this? Does Rudolph have a shiny shnoz?

P.S. A big hug to Leah Toeniskoetter, VMC Foundation Board Chair and one of Turning Wheels’ greatest champions, for taking these photos. Did you see us on the news?